


Fangirl

by Kimiko_Mekishika



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 10:41:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19789207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimiko_Mekishika/pseuds/Kimiko_Mekishika
Summary: Hideyoshi Yukiko prides herself on her crushes, for she always crushes hard and has long-standing crushes. It's always a boy that she's close to, someone she trusts and hopes won't hurt her if she ever chooses to confess, which she never does. Now that she's started Ouran Academy, Yukiko and her best friends Kurakano Momoka and Sakurazuka Kimiko, are ready for high school work and love. Yukiko has just gotten over her long-standing crush on a boy going to a different school and wants to find someone new that she can crush on. Perhaps the club that her best friends are constantly at will be the perfect place to find love with a certain soft-hearted twin.





	1. Obsessions and Crushes

#  Obsessions and Crushes 

Yukiko's POV.

The garden was glittering with cherry blossom petals that fell into the fountain in the middle of the lawn. I sat at the edge, brushing my long dark hair from my face as I skimmed the words of an old leather-covered book from my parents' study about the family's business in perfumes and fragrances. It was a process that I didn't know much about, but I was glad for the interesting material as I waited for one of my best friends, Kurakano Momoka.

"Yuki-chan!" I turned my head, smiling as noticed Momoka jogging over to me. I shut my book and stood, hugging the old leather to my chest as she grinned to me, huffing from her run across the yard.

"Are you ready to go?" I smiled.

"Yeah! You'll love the club I'm taking you to. Kimi-chan and I love it, it's called the host club and you can talk to all these boys and they have all these acts to entertain us, it's amazing." Momoka ranted as we headed to the East Tower. 

And trust me, it did sound amazing, but it also sounded terrifying. I wasn't one for letting strangers flirt with me or even compliment me, I didn't appreciate it very much. In fact, I could feel my stomach start to turn at the thought of these strange boys around me. Sure, I knew many of the boys that went to our school through the years, but I was also terrified because I didn't really _know_ them, ya know?

I mean, the chivalry thing seemed like it would be nice since it was practically a dead art nowadays, but if it was an actual host club that would be terrifying. I wrapped my arms around my book, my curly black hair immediately pooling over it. 

"Yukiko? Are you alright?" Momoka stopped in front of a door that told me it was an abandoned music room.

"Yeah, perfectly fine." I forced a grin, I was very good at that after all. 

"If you say so. Come on, it's in here. I think you'll like the twins performance, they're a lot like the love triangle books you're always reading." I felt my face flush at Momoka's observation, but only tucked my chin to my neck and hugged my book to my chest as Momoka opened the doors and immediately rose petals blew at our faces. I blinked as we observed several groups of people around the room, mostly girls being entertained by six boys. A boy with glasses sat at a table but looked up to smile at us.

"Welcome ladies, who would you like to visit today?" I finally placed him with the last name Ootori as Momoka smiled brightly.

"I'd like to visit Haruhi again!" Momoka checked in with Ootori before heading to the brunet from our class. He smiled to her as she sat down in a chair across from him.

"And you? It appears that you are new to the Host Club, we welcome you." Ootori smiles.

"Um, I'm not exactly sure, Momoka recommended the t-twins." I stammered through my words under his gaze, I was nervous. He was new to me and I wasn't exactly sure how to act.

"Ah yes, well, I'll introduce you to Hikaru and Kaoru, I'm sure they'll enjoy your company." Ootori stood and I made sure I curtsied before he offered his hand.

"Thank you Ootori-senpai. My name is Hideyoshi Yukiko." I introduce.

"Just Kyouya will do, thank you. And I'm well aware of your family Yukiko." Kyouya informs. I gulp at that notion, well he couldn't be any more terrifying. I took a breath as I took his hand and allowed him to guide me to where the orange-haired twins were. I recognized them from my class and immediately tucked my chin down and tightened my grasp on my book.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, you have a new guest. This is Yukiko." Kyouya released my hand and I curtsied again. Like how I did at balls and such.

"Pleasure to m-meet you." I heard my voice croak at I spoke, quickly standing straight once more.

"Why, what a lovely little lady, isn't she Kaoru?" The twin standing on the right smiled.

"Oh yes, she's adorable Hikaru." The twin on the left confirmed.

"But not as adorable as you are Kaoru, especially how sweet you were last night." Hikaru cupped Kaoru's cheek and I felt my face go red. Their bodies pressed together like they were magnets attracted to one and other. Kaoru's hands snaked around Hikaru's neck and Hikaru's free hand went to Kaoru's waist. I felt my throat go dry as I watched. The other girls on the couch squealed as they did so, several girls around the room watched and I felt my hands tighten to my leather book as I fought a mental battle of whether or not I should be watching this. 

A girl with short hair, a section of which was braided at the side of her ear beckoned me to sit beside her, she seemed to calm down the fastest of the three girls on the couch. I watched with anticipation for what the brothers were going to do next. 

And so my afternoon went with me watching the twins with great anticipation. The twins captured my attention and I found myself thinking of pages and pages I could write about them. The image of the two together burned into my mind, the mesh of their orange hair, full lips, cat-like golden eyes, it all filled my head with ideas for what to write about.

I was much better at writing romance than I was experiencing it. Countless stories of romantic encounters filled my journals and my head as I imagined wild things, first kisses and witty conversation. I loved to imagine someone sweeping me off my feet in the way that the twins seemed to carry on their forbidden love scheme.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_His breath warmed my skin and my lips like coffee in the middle of winter. His eyes seared into my soul, jewels reflecting desire. It was like his cat-like orbs were on fire and I was the one who lit the match. I felt his fingers at the belt loop of my jeans, tugging me closer as his hand loomed in such a dangerous area. His left hand went to my neck, softer, gentler than I first thought he would hold me. I leaned against the warmth of his skin._

_"You're such a tease, you know." He pressed his forehead against my own and I found myself closing my eyes._

_"I can't imagine what you mean by that." I responded, my knees were weak and shaking, hands pressed to his chest in anticipation. God, why didn't he just kiss me, like I always dreamed off._

_" _I_ can't imagine why you tell me to go, when it's so clear you want me to stay." He guided my chin upwards, enough for me to know he was planning to capture my lips in his own._

_"Then just kiss me, and I'll never let you go." I curled my fingers around the soft material of his shirt and felt him lean down, pressing his soft lips to mine. The heat made me feel feverish, I felt like my body burned where he touched me as his hand rested at my waist, his other massaging my neck and forcing me to relax further._

_Fire. I felt like the fire in his gold, cat-like eyes was burning right into me, but it wasn't like he was engulfing me and killing me. It was like I was air and the way we meshed together fed us both, breeding a fire between us. It felt like a lifetime had passed and he pulled away, enough for me to look at him, feeling my lips warm and swollen._

_"Never let me go?" He asked. His golden eyes shined with concern and worry, his lips twitching in unsure movements. I moved my hands to his neck, smiling gently._

_"I'll never let you go." I pulled him into another kiss._

"I still don't get how you can write about a kiss when you've never been kissed yourself." Kimiko criticized as I wrote in my journal. She worked on her homework with Momoka. I'd finished earlier during my lunch period.

"I don't know, it's just like I have a gut feeling about what it's going to be like." I smiled at the pages I'd filled with this entry. Kaoru's golden eyes were burned into my head as the image behind this work. 

"Ooh, Yuki-chan's crushing." Momoka shimmied her shoulders suggestively and I chucked a pillow at her.

"I am not! I don't even know him yet." I looked at what I'd just written. Maybe I was crushing a little already. 

"Oh, she's so crushing, which brother is it? Or both of them perhaps?" Kimiko leaned onto her elbows, looking at me with great interest.

"I'm not . . crushing. But . . if I were . . . maybe I'd like Kaoru." I click my pen and shut my journal. Momoka and Kimiko squeal with excitement. They launch into talks about what our children would look like and who they'd invite to the wedding. I headed to my balcony, stepping onto the smooth flooring and leaning on the railing, sighing as I looked into the orange sky. It was beautiful and I loved to look at the colors meshing in such a way. 

"Hey, we were only joking." Kimiko nudged me. 

"Yeah, no harm done, you know we love you." Momoka smiled.

"I know, I love coming out here at this time of day." I smile, leaning onto the railing.

"Daydreaming?" Kimiko asked. She leaned down on her elbows too.

"Yeah."

"It is nice." Kimiko agreed.

"I know." I look into the infinite sky and shut my eyes, imagining my first kiss again. I loved to think of who I could ever kiss and what kind of setting it would be in. After all, I loved to daydream. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Ah, a returning customer! And who would you like to visit seeing as you're the first one here?" A second-year I'd come to know as Tamaki Suoh greeted with much grandiose. 

"I'd like to visit the twins if I could please, Suoh-senpai."

"What a kind lady! Yes of course, take good care of her Hikaru, Kaoru." Tamaki warned. 

"You got it boss." Kaoru smiled, and he and Hikaru escorted me to a table by the window. 

"So, you've come to visit us so many times, but we know nothing about you, Yukiko. All we know is you're in our class." Hikaru pointed out.

"Well, what would you like to know?" I pressed my legs together, taking a sip from the teacup in front of me. 

"What are your interests? You seem to always be carrying a book." Kaoru notes.

"Ah, yes. I love reading and writing. I read about my family history and many romance novels and manga. I love to write romance as well, it's so fascinating to me." I explain, looking at the current book I was reading, entitled "Pretty in Punxsutawney", which was quite fascinating.

"Would you ever write about us?" Kaoru asks, voice deeper than before. I looked up to find both twins were looking at me with lust in their eyes and I felt my heart leap into my throat and prevent me from forming words. 

"I-I . ." I stammer, unable to form the words to defend myself, come up with something to tell the twins that won't give me away but also be sure that I'm not lying to them.

"You seem to be very flustered right now, Yukiko-" Hikaru begins.

"-Perhaps you've been watching us and getting ideas?" Kaoru licks his lip and I feel my hands begin to tremble. Oh god, my heart is racing, why do I put myself in such embarrassing positions?

"I . . I . . I need water." I abruptly stand and rush to the hallway I find the nearest fountain and take deep drinks of water. My face feels like it's on fire, like someone took the sun and shoved it into my head and now I'm burning up and it's not stopping anytime soon.

"Are you alright?" I looked up to find Fujioka Haruhi there, he looked concerned and I nodded.

"Y-yes, just a bit flustered is all." I laughed nervously and walked back to the host room with Haruhi. He was so nice about it and made sure I was alright before I joined the twins again.

"Cooled down?" Hikaru asked, resting his chin in his hands.

"Yes, thank you." I responded before I turned to biting my lip out of habit. 

"So, about what you write?" Kaoru pressed as if nothing had happened the last time he asked something similar.

"Well, like I mentioned, I love to write romance, specifically first love. I've always fantasized about my own first love, so when I have a crush, or attraction, I find myself writing about it." I admit.

"How very interesting." Kaoru comments, the lustful look remains in his eyes, although Hikaru looks rather bored of me. I look at my book to conceal my embarrassment, though I can tell it's not working very well on the perceptive cat-eyed twin. "Are you nervous around us?"

"No, not both of you." I say truthfully. Right now, Kaoru was the only one making me nervous and that was very terrifying.

"I see." Hikaru smirks, eyes flashing with mischief and I feel my face burn once more.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I find myself visiting the host club more and more often to talk with the twins, specifically Kaoru. He seemed very interested in me, of course, his eyes gave that away. At least, that's what I hoped that look in his eyes was. I talked with him and learned that he was very smart in all subjects, French specifically since that was his foreign language class. He enjoyed playing games like the one he and Hikaru made up and he generally thought a lot. He was a really fascinating person.

I might really be starting to fall in love with Kaoru.


	2. Secrets and Gender Roles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, Yukiko finds out a secret she wasn't supposed to know! How will the host club react and treat her now that she's part of their big secret?

#  Secrets and Gender Roles 

Yukiko's POV.

I'd come to the Host Club increasingly often, mostly to visit the twins, but I'd also started to enjoy pleasant conversations with Haruhi. He was a very kind person and it made me so sad to hear that he'd lost his mother when he was very young. Haruhi and I often talked about the crazy things that the Host Club would drag him into, for example, kidnapping him and taking him to a water resort in which they lost a third year member named Haninozuka. I couldn't stop laughing when he told me about that. Then there was the time that they had to deal with Hikaru and Kaoru fighting all the time, it was hilarious how that whole ordeal ended!

"Wow, I can't believe they put you through all that grief." I couldn't help but laugh.

"I know, but I don't expect anything less from them." Haruhi smiles.

"You really enjoy hanging out with them, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah, even if they are annoying."

"Aww, we're hurt Haruhi." Hikaru says from behind the brunet. 

"Yeah, and we thought you were enjoying our company." Kaoru leans on the table between us. I tug my chin to my neck, like I always did when I was nervous. 

"What are you guys doing over here?" Haruhi huffed.

"Well, for one we came to annoy our toy-" Hikaru began.

"And invite Yukiko to the beach where we'll be hosting the club for the weekend. We've invited a lot of our regulars and figured you'd qualify, although you appear to be host-hopping at the moment." Kaoru teased. I felt my face flush at the accusation, host-hopping was a 'disease' they'd diagnose guests with. 

"I am not host-hopping." I argue indignantly. 

"Oh?" Kaoru asked, turning his golden gaze to me. His eyes burned into my very soul.

"Then what are you doing not visiting us?" Hikaru asked, leaning over Haruhi's shoulder. Haruhi swatted at him, telling the two to leave us alone, only for them to agree on one condition; we had to play the Which One is Hikaru Game and succeed before they would leave us be. Haruhi sighed and agreed. The twins put their hats on and did the little dance they'd always done before presenting themselves. 

"Which one of us is Hikaru?" They chorused in unison. I studied them carefully, finally, I was able to see past the identical features they shared and found the looks in their eyes were different. I found Hikaru's more mischievous eyes on the right and Kaoru's softer, more questioning eyes on the left. 

"Hikaru is on the right and Kaoru is on the left." Haruhi confirmed.

"I agree." I add quickly. 

"Under what reasoning?" Hikaru asked smugly.

"Well, I admit that the two of you are very good at maximizing the physical similarities between you, your eyes reveal the truth about your personality traits. Hikaru has the more mischievous eyes and Kaoru's are softer by comparison. If someone really focuses, it's actually very easy to tell the two of you apart." I explain at length. 

"Well, then we hope to see you at the beach tomorrow Yukiko. See you later, Haruhi." The twins waved to the boy sitting across from me and left for another part of the room, most likely to annoy Tamaki, since they seemed keen on that. 

"Please tell me you're planning to come this weekend, I need a little sanity in my life." Haruhi begged, his brown eyes pleading.

"Of course! I'd never leave you to deal with your crazy club all alone. Plus Kimiko and Momoka already told me that they're going too, so it'll be really fun." I agreed. The hours dwindled down and my ride was on it's way, but I wanted to make sure that Haruhi also left before it got too late. He sure was taking a long time getting dressed. 

"Haruhi? Are you still here?" I called, stepping into the host room. I found a wall of doors that used to be practice rooms, which I assume the guys must use for changing now. I knocked on the first one before tugging the handle open.

"Haruhi?" I asked again, shielding my eyes partially.

"Ah, Yukiko!" I glanced up to find Haruhi out of the traditional outfit he was wearing and now in black pants, but also a . . . bra?! 

"Wah! Sorry!" I shut the door quickly considering the possible reasons that Haruhi was dressed like that. He definitely didn't seem like the closet pervert type, was he maybe transgender? Maybe he wanted to be a boy so that's how he dressed and acted? Or was he just cross-dressing for some random reason that I wouldn't know or understand? Haruhi was a girl? I waited a minute or two before Haruhi emerged in the standard boys uniform and I blushed and looked down.

"S-so, are you t-trans or-"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. Well, I sort of owed the host club a debt for breaking something valuable and the only way I can pay it off is by working for them." Haruhi explains. It sounded like something that he-she- hadn't really explained before. 

"I see. I didn't mean to expose your secret or anything! And I won't tell anyone, I promise." I cupped Haruhi's hands in my own, surprised at how calm she was.

"Well thank you, although to be honest I was surprised you didn't figure it out earlier, you seemed quite perceptive." Haruhi admits, smiling.

"I may be able to figure out mystery books and things, but reading people in real life is a whole other story. After all there's a lot of things that I don't know about you, but you were a good friend before I knew you were a girl, so I'd like to keep it that way. Even if I can't read you well enough to differentiate your gender." I laughed nervously and Haruhi nodded. She headed home and I got in my limo to head home, startled with the revelation about my friend. Then I thought back to when Hikaru and Kaoru came to bug us earlier. My heart started pounding, geez, what's this feeling?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_"Why would you be able to tell us apart any better than anyone else? You're just like everyone else." His face contorted into one of anger as he stood, heading for the door. I saw the pain reflecting in his eyes first, how he seemed so sad when he began yelling._

_"I see you. I can tell you and your brother apart because I see you, when he's playing around and you're working, when he doesn't care and it's so clear you do. I _see_ you." I stood, holding his shoulder in my right hand. He shook like he was about to start crying or laughing, but only turned and buried his face into my neck, his eyes squeezed tight and lips against my collar bone. His arms wrapped around me like my own personal winter jacket. I slowly brought my hands to his shoulders and leaned my head against his. _

__

_"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He whimpered, on the verge of tears._

_"You know, the only reason I'm not like everybody else is because I want to see you. When I look at you, I see more than what you want people to see. I don't see another twin, I see you." I soothed, softly massaging circles against his shoulders._

_"You're not like everyone else because of me. You're special because you see the best in people, no matter who they are." He pulled away and I led him back to the bench we'd sat before, holding his hand, our fingers intertwined like the ever-tangled string of fate. His golden eyes pierced my soul and I could see their depth, the want to be a different person, an entity separate from his brother, in my eyes. I wanted to always recognize him as that separate being because I knew that people hadn't treated him like that in his past, I wanted him to know that he would always be a different person from his brother. He was special and unique in a way that his brother never could be. And that was alright._

"Miss Hideyoshi, we've arrive at the beach you've told me about." My driver, Yoshimaru, announced.

"Thank you Yoshi, I'll be staying until Sunday morning." I shoulder my bag and step out onto the pavement in front of the hotel. I had a floral skirt on over a white one-piece swimsuit. I had my brown and white sandals on and a large floral fedora on. This was a rare occasion that I left my hair uncurled because I knew the water would do that anyways. 

"Yuki-chan!" Momoka waved at me, she and Kimiko were dressed in two-piece bikinis and appeared to have already dropped their things at their rooms. 

"We're staying in rooms according to the host that we visit the most, you'll be on the fourth floor because you were marked with the twins." Kimiko explains.

"We can take you there." A very familiar voice offered from behind me. The twins themselves were there, dressed in blue and orange swim trunks based on their signature rose color. I blushed hard as I glanced over their abs. 

"Th-thank you." I bowed slightly.

"It's no problem, plus we'd like to talk to you alone." Hikaru added. I was oddly curious about what they could possibly want to talk to me about alone. My mind flashed to my most recent journal entry and my face burst into colors of red at the mere thought. As soon as we were in the hallway of the third floor we stopped in front of a room that I assumed was my own, but Hikaru only leaned against the door, Kaoru beside me between me and the elevators. 

"So we heard that you found out Haruhi's secret." Hikaru began, frowning at me, I'd never seen his gaze so cold. 

"You mean, that she has to cross-dress to pay off the debt of something valuable that she broke? I got the gist of it from her." I nodded, attempting to not show how nervous I really was. 

"So then you know that you're not supposed to say anything, if you do . . ." Kaoru backed me against the wall, blocking my way with Hikaru blocking my way on the other side. "You'll regret it."

"I-I . . ." I took a deep breath, being afraid never got me anywhere. Plus, I didn't have anything to worry about since I hadn't done anything wrong. I composed myself, took a few deep breaths and jutted my chin out. "I won't say anything. Not because you're threatening me now, but because Haruhi is a good friend of mine and I wouldn't betray her trust. You two have nothing to worry about." 

"Well that's a relief." Hikaru sighed and relaxed, looking mischievous as ever. Kaoru stepped away from the wall.

"Sorry about threatening you and everything, didn't mean to. We have to keep our secrets, you know how it goes." Kaoru laughed. I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in and let myself smile.

"Oh thank god." I bite my lip.

"I'll go check on the rest of our guests." Hikaru says, leaving and disappearing down the hall.

"Here." Kaoru unlocks my room and I place my bag inside. I take the key from Kaoru and my phone from my bag.

"You know, I really was scared for a minute, the two of you are terrifying." I admit.

"Oh really? We never thought we could be intimidating, especially to such a clever girl." Kaoru tells me.

"Why does everyone call me clever?" I mumble under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Anyways, because you're inner circle now, I wanted to know if you'd join the seven of us at the host table for dinner this evening?" Kaoru asked as I unpacked my things. I froze, my various journals and books toppling to the floor. I let out a squeak in surprise and dropped to the ground, gathering them, dog-eared pages with ideas I'd stuffed between pages and things I'd book-marked for reference. All of it was a mess on the freshly vacuumed floor. 

"Here, I'll help." Kaoru folded some books into a stack on my dresser. "So, my offer?" 

"Um, it's a very sweet sentiment, but I'm not sure I would exactly, well, fit, for lack of a better word." I admit, blushing.

"Well you know that Haruhi, Hikaru, and I like you. Kyouya-senpai thinks your interesting and Tamaki finds you more polite than anything he's used to. I'm sure that Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai wouldn't mind you either since they're pretty open to anything and everything." Kaoru smiles.

"But you don't really know me all that well yet." I made sure of that.

"Then let's get to know each other." Kaoru offered. I stared into his golden orbs, the color filled me and reminded me of so many beautiful things, sunshine, fire, coffee, his eyes burned these images into my mind as they poured warmth throughout me. I gulped and merely nodded.

"Y-yeah." I agreed, smiling gently. We finished up in my room and decided to head down to the beach. As we stood in the elevator, I found myself needing to ask a question that I'd always wanted to ask. "Hey, why did you and Hikaru always mess with girls in middle school?"

"Well, what do you mean by that?" Kaoru asked.

"I know how you two treated girls who left confession letters in your desks. You'd meet them in the same place, one of you would hide behind a bush or a tree and the other would say something along the lines of 'sorry, I'm my brother and he likes someone else, would you be fine with me instead?' Then you'd rip their letter up in front of them along with insults about how they didn't deserve you two." I recall. I remembered many girls that would talk about their letters then go crying to their friend after rejection. 

"I guess Hikaru and I just wanted people to see us as two separate beings, but when girls would be fine with either of us so easily, it hurt. Well, for me, it hurt to be the same person as my brother, I wanted to be different, but I also wanted to be the same, it was very confusing. And I won't lie, we were very twisted back then, I guess there was no real reason." Kaoru explained, looking ashamed.

"I see." I looked down.

"Were you . . . one of the girls we hurt?" Kaoru asked.

"No, no, I wasn't. I just knew someone who was." I reply, weakly. I'm not the type of person who confesses their feelings to their crush. 

"Well, I'm sorry if we hurt her. I promise we've become different people in the last year and a half." Kaoru admits.

"I know." I smile. For now, I was content knowing that the Hitachiin twins were good people, even if my sister never saw them that way.


	3. Flashbacks and Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise surprise, Hideyoshi Yukiko is a twin! Nani?!

#  Flashbacks and Broken Hearts 

Yukiko's POV.

I remembered when I used to have a twin sister, her name was Natsuko. Because if I was the winter, she was the summer. And she was. We were identical twins, black hair and icy blue eyes, we always kept the same hairstyles, to the point that we looked like clones of each other. But we could tell each other apart and that was enough. Natsuko was always the more adventurous one, wanting to explore the world while I read about it.

She was so bubbly and fun and happy all the time, I loved that about her. Even when bad things happened, she smiled and said that it would be alright in the end.

We were in elementary school when she discovered the Hitachiin twins and began to crush on Hikaru. I remember how she came to me the evening she realized that she had a crush on the older twin, I remember like it happened yesterday. We were all about 12 at the time.

*Flashback*  
_"Oh Yukiko, he's just so handsome, he reminds me of a prince." Natsuko danced around the room we shared, footsteps light as I sat in the middle of our bed, writing in a journal._

_"But we're too young to like boys." I complained, I was always the more childish one of the two of us._

_"Yukiko, he's perfect. Like a prince, wit and intelligence, you know he's great at math. He and his brother are so interesting." Natsuko sighed and flopped onto the bed with a huff. She spread her arms out and looked into the window like some Disney princess._

_"You can't like him so much, you hardly know him." I reasoned._

_"But I feel like I've known him an eternity." Natsuko hummed._

_"Natsuko." I warned._

_"Oh, Yukiko, he could be my summer prince. Sweeping me off my feet and we could spend our days in bliss." Natsuko joined her hands, rolling onto her stomach to smile at me. Back then, we'd invented ideas of a summer and winter prince. My prince would be the winter prince, cold, but warm enough to thaw my heart. Natsuko's prince was the summer prince, as lively and fun as she was. It was fitting in our minds to be with someone like us._

_"But he and Kaoru-kun are so cold to everyone. They never talk to anyone else." I added._

_"I just know it's love." Natsuko sighed, staring out the window once more._  
*End Flashback*

Natsuko dragged me into all her plans to get closer to Hikaru. Partners on projects, after-school clubs, sitting at the same tables as the twins. The Hitachiins had given us strange looks on more than one occasion, but Natsuko was determined to get close to them. I didn't mind too much, since it was kind of like a secret mission.

Often, whenever Natsuko left to get closer to Hikaru, I was stuck with Kaoru. He never paid me any mind, but I noticed him, when he was reading books, when he'd draw intricate designs of mazes and things. I know he didn't remember me from so long ago, but I certainly remembered him. Once, we'd had one of the most interesting conversations I'd ever had in my life.

*Flashback*  
 _"Hey Yuki, or whatever your name is." Kaoru once said to me, not looking up from his book as I typed out our answers for a group project._

_"Yukiko. And what's up Kaoru-kun?"_

_"Why does your sister go after my brother? She knows we'll break her heart without a second thought." Kaoru said blandly. In fact, I was surprisingly unbothered by this at the time, but it sounds so twisted looking back on it._

_"Well, Natsuko's the type of person to always see the best in people. She's probably hoping that Hikaru-kun will see that not break her heart." I responded, not looking up from the computer screen._

_"You type slow."_

_"It's not my fault these things are old!"_

_"Why are you so different when it's just us? Or when you're with your sister?"_

_"What does that mean?"_

_"I guess, why do you seem like a different person when you're with different people?"_

_"Well I dunno. It might be because we're alone, so I don't have to impress anybody here. Or it's the fact that different people know me as different things. Maybe I just feel more comfortable around you or my sister."_

_"Why though, I couldn't care less about you. I don't even care to learn your name."_

_"It's Yukiko! Yu-ki-ko!"_

_"You're an interesting person."_

_"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"_

_"You don't seem to be afraid of being yourself, even around me, and everyone knows that Hikaru and I are ruthless."_

_"You don't seem so ruthless to me. You're just a middle school second year, just like me. What's there to be considered ruthless?_

_"You said that you don't have to impress anybody here, can you elaborate on that?"_

_"Hey, answer me first! . . . Ugh, fine. I just meant that it's not like I'm aiming to get your approval or anything. It's not a ball or something that I need to worry about. You're a kid and I'm a kid, that's all there is to it."_

_"That's . . strange."_

_"You're weird. Well anyways, I finished the typing, now I'm gonna go find Natsuko so we can go home. See you Kaoru-kun." And that was that._

He seemed more human than his brother to me, but that was because I got to know him a little better, although I was far too young to ever understand that at the time. After all, I wasn't looking for a relationship, though crushes were a nice comfort. Kaoru was just Kaoru to me.

Then, years later, Natsuko felt that she really *knew* the twins and decided to confess to Hikaru. I remember she told me how it went in vivid detail. It was horrifying to us, barely 14 and faced with such cruelty.

*Flashback*  
_"Yukiko! Yukiko!" Natsuko came to me sobbing as I waited for her to return before I called the limo with Yoshi._

_"Natsuko what happened? I thought you went to see Hikaru?" I dropped my novel and held my sister. She fell into my arms, tears staining our uniforms together as Natsuko enveloped me in her embrace._

_"He was so awful! How could any boy be so devious and unkind?" Natsuko sobbed, bursting into tears all over again. Her body was racked with sadness and sorrow, shaking hands and hyperventilating her breaths, my sister was a wreck. Normally, the cool, calm enigma was reduced to blubbering wreck before my very eyes. We sat on the ground, Natsuko's arms around my neck as she rested against me._

_"Tell me what happened Natsuko, maybe I can understand you better."_

_"I was waiting for Hikaru to show up and he finally did. I asked him if he could accept my feelings and he said that he was actually Kaoru and I'd messed up the desks that they sit in."_

_"But you made sure that it was right."_

_"I know!" Natsuko sniffed._

_"Go on, sis."_

_"So Kaoru told me that Hikaru liked someone else, but that I was cute and he asked if I would date him instead." Natsuko sobbed again._

_"He didn't!"_

_"He did! I told him that he was rotten for even suggesting such a thing and you know what he said? He told me that he was Hikaru and I was the rotten one! He said that I couldn't even tell them apart and didn't deserve to be with either of them! He ripped up my letter right in front of me." Natsuko buried her face in my shoulder and I felt a spike of anger._

_"Natsuko, why don't you go get your things from the classroom and I'll call Yoshi so we can go home, yeah? Movie marathon tonight with lots of pocky and mochi?" I suggested._

_"And dangoes?"_

_"Plenty."_

_"Alright, sounds like a plan." Natsuko dried her tears and headed to our classroom. I headed the opposite direction toward where I knew the Hitachiin twins would be. I found them still ripping my sisters letter up to shreds. My anger spiked into my chest and I stormed over._

_"What are you doing here again, you selfish little-" I cut Hikaru off with a slap._

_"That's for embarrassing my sister!" I turned to Kaoru and smacked him as well. "That's for conspiring with your idiot twin."_

_"Watch your mouth, you brat." Hikaru hissed._

_"You don't know who you're talking to." Kaoru added._

_"I know exactly who I'm talking to. The Hitachiin brothers, Hikaru and Kaoru. The warped twins that no one can ever tell apart, well, I know enough to say that you, Hikaru are an asshole and you broke my sisters heart. I can't believe that you could do something like that, or that you could just stand by and watch it happen, Kaoru. Both of you make me sick." I turned to storm off._

_"And how would you know anything about not being told apart?" Kaoru called._

_"Maybe cause I'm a twin too! My sister is Natsuko, the girl you just made run off crying! I'm Yukiko Hideyoshi and don't you ever forget it!" I sneered. I turned tail and ran back to the front of the school, my sister already waiting there with Yoshi._

_"Where'd you run off to?" Natsuko wondered._

_"Ladies room, sorry about that." I laughed nervously, heading home with my sister._

Before the end of the week, Natsuko had transferred to a private school in China for study abroad about the family business, but she'd discovered a new passion and renounced the inheritance, so it would pass to me. Mother and Father liked to act like she didn't exist as a result.

Natsuko never would have left if it wasn't for the Hitachiin twins, but even now that I knew them, even now that I was friends with them, I still couldn't bring myself to hate either of them. 

I didn't know what reasons they could have had for doing the things that they did and I wasn't going to try and validate them or understand their reasoning before I understand what it's like to walk in their shoes. 

Although one thing was certain, the girls of the Hideyoshi family had a thing for getting their hearts broken by the boys of the Hitachiin family. Or maybe it was a twin thing.


	4. Summer Sun and Beach Thugs

#  Summer Sun and Beach Thugs 

Yukiko's POV. 

Kaoru and I discussed our classes and things, I was starting to become more comfortable around him, especially seeing as he wasn't a jerk like he was in middle school. I could tell that he was trying to figure out if he knew me before by the questions he asked, but I made sure to give cryptic answers instead, after all, if he knew who I was then it might change things between us thus far. Wait. What am I saying, it's not like there's anything between us right now! Shaking my head of my thoughts I joined Momoka and Kimiko and Kaoru went to his brother and Haruhi. 

"Let's go swimming!" Kimiko dragged us into the water, we fell giggling into the salty sea. I left my phone, key card, hat, shoes, and skirt on the beach side. 

"Geez, the water feels so good." I hummed, flopping onto my butt. 

"You're so graceful, Yuki-chan." Momoka teases. 

"Aren't I always?" I respond with the same tone. Kimiko and Momoka begin to splash each other and I laugh as I watch them. 

"Ladies, do you want to play? We could use a few more people." Hikaru offers, a volleyball under his right arm. Kaoru stands, talking to their other regulars, with us, it would be a total of eight people. I found myself indulging in the view of Kaoru shirtless and looked at the ground instead. 

"Hmm, sure." Momoka speaks for us. We get out of the water and head to the courts. Hikaru teams up with their other regulars Haruna, Kozue, and Ruri while Kaoru teams up with us. 

"Okay, have you girls ever played before?" Kaoru asks.

"No." Kimiko dead-pans. 

"Uh, I watched an anime about it." I offer. 

"Yeah, in middle school." Momoka smiles.

"That's . . . okay. Well, I'll start serving, then Momoka can serve, Yukiko, and Kimiko, so you can see how to serve. Other than that, just call for when you want to hit the ball or if it comes your direction. Alright?" Kaoru smiles, pointing to each of us as he relays his plan. We agree and just start to play. 

Hikaru and Kaoru are far more athletic than the rest of us and easily return each others spikes and serves, I get hit in the face twice before I start to get the hang of receiving, but I wouldn't dare set or spike, Momoka took the setting position. Kimiko mainly stayed out of the way, although she took a liking to serving. I was standing to the left of the court in the back and found Hikaru's serve aimed at me. I dove for the ball, sliding in the sand as it went behind me toward the setters position. I whimpered as the sand burned against my skin. I turned in time to see Kaoru spike the ball down before he went over to me.

"Are you alright?" He knelt beside me. I nod, dusting sand off.

"I think I'm done though, being thrown around in a volleyball game. Sports aren't really my thing." I admit.

"I could tell when you got hit in the face with the ball the first time." Kaoru admits, laughing a bit. I feel my face flush.

"I-I underestimated how to receive that." I reply. Kaoru laughs and he and Hikaru just decide to play with each other while Haruna, Kozue, and Ruri watch. Momoka, Kimiko and I head up on top of a rock ledge that we'd found, just as the sun started to set. A myriad of red, orange, and yellow filled the sky, resembling a painting. The formation of clouds only contributed to the beauty of the scene in front of us. 

"Oh wow, this is so beautiful." I comment, going for my phone before I realize that I'd left it down at the beach.

"I'll go grab our phones so we can take pictures." Momoka runs off, leaving Kimiko and I to talk about our plans for the weekend. Kimiko planned on getting into the local fashion, I remembered doing research on bookstores nearby, so those places were where I planned on going. 

"Hey man there are chicks up here." Kimiko and I turned to find three guys dressed like thugs approaching. The one in the center wears sun-glasses, obscuring his eyes. Kimiko cowers at my side.

"Leave us alone, this is a private beach." Kimiko glares at the men.

"Does that mean we're alone?" One of the two guys behind Sunglasses grins.

"C'mon don't be shy." Sunglasses grabs my arm.

"Hey!" I cry out, whimpering as he takes my hair in his other hand.

"You're such a pretty thing." He takes hold of my other arm as I struggle and try to kick at him. Kimiko is cowering under the other two guys when we hear a voice behind us.

"Leave them alone!" The men turn to be met with shellfish from Haruhi's bucket. She began yelling and one of the thugs towering over Kimiko. He mouthed off to Haruhi before throwing her over the edge. I was dropped on my back against the rocks, the first thug still pinning me when I heard Momoka's voice. Then it sounded like an order from Kyouya-senpai and the hand pinning me down went away. I kept my eyes closed out of fear when a hand tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, you'll be alright." Kaoru smiled down to me. I blinked in surprise before I took his hand and sat up.

"I-I-"

"It's alright, I know. It must've been really scary dealing with those guys. I'll take you back to your room, okay?" Kaoru helped me stand and I nodded.

"Oh, my things are at the beach." I realized.

"Momoka brought them, here." Kaoru placed my hat on my head and I slipped my shoes on, holding my skirt over my arm and key card and phone in my hand. We stood in the elevator awkwardly, Kaoru unsure what to say, I was unsure if I should even talk or if I could talk at that point. I mean, I was fairly certain that those guys were going to do something graphic to us. I gulp and tugged my skirt to my chest. 

"We wouldn't have let them hurt you, you know." Kaoru tells me. The elevator comes to a stop and I turn to face Kaoru, smiling.

"Thank you. And I'll see you at dinner." I turn toward my room and down the hall. I shower and change into a white sundress, pinning my hair into a half-up half-down style with flower clips. I strap my sandals on and decide to touch up my face with a bit of make-up. Light eyeshadow and mascara, then lip balm and lip gloss. I put concealer on a few blotchy areas and make sure it's all even before I head down to the dining hall. When I arrive I find that the twins saved me a seat across from them next to the third years that I hadn't met before. Kyouya sat further down the table and Haruhi sat beside Tamaki and Hikaru. She's wearing a dress.

"Ah, here she is, this is Yukiko Hideyoshi from our class." Kaoru introduces, holding my shoulders. I blush. 

"Pleasure to meet you all." I bow.

"It's nice to meet you too Yu-chan." A blond that I can only assume as Hani-senpai smiles. 

"Yeah." His companion, Mori-senpai adds shortly. I sit besides Hani and he begins to ask me questions about how I know the twins and what I think of the Host Club. He was really nice and we made good conversation. I didn't know much about the Haninozuka family other than their dealings in martial arts, although it seemed like Hani deferred from the family business. 

"So Yu-chan, what does your family do?" Hani-senpai asked.

"Ah, we deal in the perfume department. Formulas and sales are the family business." I say.

"Wow, that seems like it would be a very hard business to excel in." Haruhi comments.

"Mm, I don't think so. It's not a very popular business because it can be so easily monopolized with the right skills in business and advertising. Plus we use fairly under-handed tactics to make our products look more appealing. Plus there aren't many corporations in the way, so we weren't ruining lives, just defeating competition. I guess it's all a matter of the resources you put to use." I hummed, eating a shrimp. 

"Wow, that sounded very dark of you, Yukiko." Hikaru teases. 

"Wah, sorry!" I apologize, blushing.

"It's alright." Hani-senpai eases. I listen to Tamaki try to get Haruhi's attention and Kyouya making formalities with everyone. I felt kind of awkward at the beginning, but once I saw how their personalities meshed together, I felt like I could blend in more. I found opportunities to say my opinions or my ideas. It actually felt like I could belong with them. I checked the time on my phone before I realized how late it was.

"I should get to bed." I stand, excusing myself.

"I'll walk you." Kaoru offers. I blink, surprised by the offer, but smile and nod.

"Thank you." Kaoru joins me and I notice that he's changed as well, wearing cargo pants that only go to his calf, and black shirt with a blue tank top over. 

"Your club is a very lively bunch." I comment, smiling.

"I noticed. You seemed to fit in well with them." Kaoru adds.

"Ah, not really, I wasn't sure if I had anything to add most of the time."

"You did well, actually I was surprised you were so knowledgeable about Gothic literature, especially from Europe. Kyouya seemed pleased about that."

"Oh really? I actually took a few lessons outside of school to learn about the Romantic period of literature. But Kyouya didn't seem to keen on me throughout dinner, he made me really nervous." 

"So I don't make you nervous anymore?" Kaoru looks at me with a kind gaze in my eyes, his golden orbs melted and I found him appear to be staring right into my soul, picking me apart piece by piece. I felt my heart begin to beat faster at the thought of Kaoru _wanting_ me to be nervous around him. I gulped, trying not to break eye contact as I stumbled back against my door. 

"K-Kaoru?" I asked.

"That's good, I'm glad that you feel comfortable around me." Kaoru smiled and I have a feeling that I imagined the whole scene playing out differently in my head. 

"Ah, right. Well, thank you for walking with me." I can no longer meet those gorgeous golden eyes of his. My mind is racing with romance scenes to write out.

"No problem. Good night Yukiko." I feel shivers when Kaoru says my name like that. Wow, what's wrong with me?

"Night Kaoru." I open my door and watch Kaoru retreat toward the elevator. I shut my door and sigh, leaning against the wooden frame. My knees are shaking so hard right now and I can't help the beating of my heart, I don't even know him that well and he can still have such a powerful effect on me. That's not fair. Then again, as the saying goes, all's fair in love and war.


End file.
